Jan 30, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; New Jersey Devils head coach Peter DeBoer watches his team take on the Dallas Stars during the game at the American Airlines Center. The Devils defeated the Stars 3-2 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
San Jose Sharks fans can now turn their attention towards the roster that Doug Wilson will assemble rather than who will be San Jose’s ninth head coach in franchise history. News broke on Wednesday morning that former New Jersey Devils head coach Peter DeBoer will be the newest head man behind the bench for the Sharks.
While the team has yet to make an official announcement, it’s believed that San Jose will make things official tomorrow afternoon during a press conference at SAP Center. Also, as Darren Dreger of TSN tweeted out, it appears the Sharks and DeBoer agreed to a four-year deal.
DeBoer is believed to have agreed to a 4 year contract with the Sharks.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 27, 2015
Furthermore, it looks like the Devils will not seek draft-pick compensation from the Sharks for their hiring of DeBoer, this according to Tom Gulitti who serves as the Devils beat reporter for NorthJersey.com. San Jose is expected to receive a third-round pick from the Edmonton Oilers for their hiring of Todd McLellan, who still had one more year left on his contract with the Sharks.
As I mentioned earlier today, the main connection that exists between DeBoer and the Sharks organization is Larry Robinson, who served as an assistant under DeBoer with the Devils. While Robinson will likely remain in his front office role, it’s obvious that he still thinks very highly of DeBoer, otherwise he wouldn’t have been the choice.
David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News was able to get a few thoughts from Robinson about the kind of hire the Sharks made and here’s one of those thoughts:
More from #SJSharks Robinson on DeBoer: "He definitely stresses good defense, but he allows players to be creative in offensive zone."
— David Pollak (@PollakOnSharks) May 27, 2015
Nothing earth-shattering, but it is interesting to note how DeBoer will stress a strong defensive presence. San Jose was terrible in their own zone this season, ranking 24th in goals against per game. In DeBoer’s three-plus seasons with New Jersey, they never finished lower than 12th in the league in goals against.
Also, it’s key that DeBoer allows San Jose’s top-end talent to remain creative in the offensive zone. The Sharks have long been known as a creative team that likes to go on the offensive so DeBoer can’t squash that aspect of San Jose’s game.
Finally, while more information might come out tomorrow when things become official, it appears that Marc-Edouard Vlasic is on-board with the hire, giving his seal of approval to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN who broke today’s news.
— Marc-Edouard Vlasic (@Vlasic44) May 27, 2015
Again, check back tomorrow to bladesofteal.com as we will have more coverage of Peter DeBoer’s hiring in San Jose.